Netflix’s Q2 results rang alarm bells this week after the business revealed it had lost 130,000 domestic subscribers and undershot its international subs target by 1.9m, but in explaining the quarter to investors, Netflix bosses also illuminated key areas of its “long-haul” strategy. 1. Benchmarks are emerging We may be a ways off from Netflix […]
Jeffrey Katzenberg’s mobile-first service Quibi and its growing roster of A-list on and off-screen talent is shaping up to either make or break premium short-form content once and for all, writes Richard Middleton. To say it’s been a busy month for Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman’s soon-to-launch short-form streamer Quibi would be an understatement. Greenlights […]
The ratings success of the Women’s World Cup shows the power that free-to-air broadcasters around the world still wield and their potential to drive huge audiences, writes Ross Biddiscombe. There is every reason to believe that the FIFA Women’s World Cup of 2019 will be seen as a broadcasting breakthrough moment for women’s football after […]
Netflix’s unprecedented transparency in detailing its documentary strategy at this week’s Sunny Side of the Doc market in France has provided “global inspiration” to producers while raising the bar for broadcasters. A year into his role at Netflix, former Canal+ exec Diego Buñuel, who serves as a director of original documentary at the streamer, took […]
As HBO rolls out hit dramas such as Chernobyl that carry the signature marks of outgoing drama execs like Kary Antholis, TBI asks whether the WarnerMedia-owned cable channel can keep such high standards up for its SVOD-focused future. To whomever leapt upon the Internet Movie Database’s (IMDb) obscure TV ratings system to make a point for the […]
The reported friction between the BBC and ITV over windowing shows for their joint SVOD service BritBox UK, set to launch later this year, is a scenario everyone in UK television could have seen coming, argues Stephen Arnell. There has always been an inherent tension between the BBC and ITV’s ambitions for their own FVOD […]
As major US studios prepare to reveal their new scripted wares to international buyers, there is an atmosphere of confusion and disorganisation in Los Angeles as the terms of trade hang in the balance. It may still be May but June gloom has descended upon many international execs at this year’s LA Screenings, which is […]
As SVODs increasingly rely on punchy dramas to draw eyeballs and differentiate their offerings, some producers and writers are concerned that slow-burning stories are an increasingly rare commodity. As Netflix UK goes in search of ‘hooky’ dramas for their platform, TBI asks whether nuanced scripted fare is an endangered offering in the new TV landscape. […]
The formats market has struck a purple patch a month on from MIPTV, with the past fortnight seeing a string of deals for scripted and non-scripted shows. The deals, listed in full below, have seen fact ent titles such as The Great Bake Off travel to Thailand, Family Food Fight being remade in Mexico, Catch […]
As 2019 goes by, the looming clash of the streamers gets closer. WarnerMedia this week confirmed it will unveil its streaming service in the fourth quarter of 2019, and Netflix borrowed another $2bn to further build up its library of content. The announcements come just weeks after Disney+ and Apple announced details of their upcoming […]
